A Rimbey woman was spared jail on Friday for trafficking in cocaine but will serve a lengthy community-based sentence.
Ashley Lori Snook, 26, was sentenced to two years less a day, which will see the first nine months spent under house arrest followed by 15 months of a nightly curfew, Red Deer provincial court Judge Gordon Deck ruled.
Snook pleaded guilty earlier this year to trafficking in cocaine and possession of the proceeds of crime. Sentencing had been adjourned to allow for a pre-sentence report.
Federal Crown prosecutor John Lee said Snook was charged on April 1, 2010, when RCMP busted a residence in Rimbey.
When police entered they found about 3.5 grams of cocaine and $1,275 in cash on Snook.
They also found two more women downstairs, including one who was in the process of ingesting cocaine and another one with a few grams in her possession and a cellphone with drug calls.
Snook gave a full confession to police and admitted she had been dealing the drug for about a year in small quantities, solely for the profit. She wasn’t a user, court heard.
Lee argued for a jail term of about two years.
Defence lawyer Will Willms argued for parity in sentencing, his client indicating one of the other woman received a 16-month community-based sentence for cocaine trafficking.
Robyn Vallerie Renshaw, 25, pleaded guilty this summer to a single count of trafficking and to breaching a court order by failing to report to Rimbey RCMP once.
Renshaw received a 16-month conditional sentence with the first five months served under house arrest and the remainder under a nightly curfew.
Snook is only allowed to leave home to work and perform the necessities of life in the first nine months.
Neither women had a previous criminal record.
Willms said his client should received parity with Renshaw because police only charged her for trafficking because she was “unsophisticated and honest” when she told police everything.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com
— copyright Red Deer Advocate